Water Pressure

[Dave3009]

Hi

I did a search but I didn't come up with anything useful (apologies if I'm crap at searching)

Here is my situation. I am not on a mains supply for water and the pressure from the well is poor. The system in my house therefore relys on gravity. The pressure is still fairly poor. What can I do to improve the pressure?

I had thought about a pump of some type but my shower has a pump and I'm not sure if having two would cause issues, also the heating etc in the house is provided by a Rayburn, do I need to make any special considerations for this?

I will get a properly qualified plumber in to do any work so please don't think I plan on doing this in a DIY styleee. Also I do have an option to go to mains, is it a big job to convert from gravity to direct supply?

Cheers


Dave

 

[justlead1]

Hi. You could have a cistern at low level feed from the well and a pump set connected to the cistern which would feed the property. However your hot water sounds conventional {gravity F&R from rayburn to cylinder. cylinder feed by cold feed from cistern in loft) If this is the case the hot water performance will not alter. Good Luck

 

[stevetheplumber]

Hi

I did a search but I didn't come up with anything useful (apologies if I'm crap at searching)

Here is my situation. I am not on a mains supply for water and the pressure from the well is poor. The system in my house therefore relys on gravity. The pressure is still fairly poor. What can I do to improve the pressure?

I had thought about a pump of some type but my shower has a pump and I'm not sure if having two would cause issues, also the heating etc in the house is provided by a Rayburn, do I need to make any special considerations for this?

I will get a properly qualified plumber in to do any work so please don't think I plan on doing this in a DIY styleee. Also I do have an option to go to mains, is it a big job to convert from gravity to direct supply?

Cheers


Dave

look at fitting a whole house pump salamander do a reasonably priced one
remove existing shower pump to avoid conflictyou may also want to leave toilets on gravity feed to avoid noise at night

 

[Dave3009]

Thank you both for your very welcomed responses.

Right I think I'm getting to grips with what I need to ask to be done.

Lets assume I could look at the possibility of a combi-boiler if I got hooked to the mains. Obviously the expense the previous owner went to for installing a top range Rayburn would be wasted but I'd be able to get full pressure on both hot and cold. Is the conversion a big job or is it just a case of not sending the water to my loft.

Cheers

 

[justlead1]

Mains water supply although charged for, may be cheaper in your case, as two thirds of the water bill is waste water removal. If you are remote enough to use a well, its likley you are using septic tank/soak away. Its also worth checking for any corrosion of fitting,that may cause poor volume from taps. Pipe sizes can be increased to give better performance. Good luck

 

[WHPES]

If the hot water is heated by the Rayburn and it is the uncontrolled heat store type, you must fit a high temp thermostatic mixing valve before the hot water goes to the pump as the pump will fail if very hot water goes through it and most shower mixer valves can only handle hot supplies up to about 75 degrees C

 

[justlead1]

Hi. If the Rayburn is no longer needed for hot water? I feel sure it can be converted to act just as a cooking range. Perhaps others may first hand knowledge of this and post comments?

 

[Dave3009]

Thanks for everyones input so far. I don't think gravity pressure is going to be acceptable long term and I therefore need to ask about the size of job the conversion might be. I can put in a combi boiler and decomission much of the Rayburns secondary functions without losing sleep.

Ideally I would like full mains pressure in my home be it hot or cold water. I'd like to retain a storage of water (just in case) but this can remain isolated.

 

[WHPES]

You could plumb the Rayburn to work a couple of radiators in the house independently to another heating system.

 

[macplumb]

Did a farm house last year like this we had to fit accumalators to the incoming main.

 

[Dave3009]

Yeah I think the pressure at the taps is far more important than the Rayburn. I know in the grand scheme the Rayburn is an asset but I want my water pressure and quite frankly the Rayburn can go.

 

[Highway Star]

Did a farm house last year like this we had to fit accumalators to the incoming main.

Is this standard practice? I have heard of this sort of water storage to give a balanced pressure hot and cold system but... is it all new technology or has it been about for some years? Does it also eliminate loft tanks?

 

[WHPES]

It is a standard practice particularly for systems fed from boreholes, and not new. Effectively the accumulators are buffer tanks which hold water and provide a steady supply pressure which simulates mains. You can fit an unvented system but you are probably better with vented in case of fluctuations in supply.

It is not to give a balanced hot / cold system.